Every Life is a Story
by MRACR
Summary: He was on the run all his life; she never found a home. But when the two unexpected harpers find themselves on the other side of Pern, they may have to give up their newfound freedom. Because now they hold the fate of more than one story in their hands.
1. Chapter 1

**_Hello all! Amazingly, I'm not writing an MR fic...lol. Oh, wait, the co-author of this story hates it when I say "lol". So... -giggles-. Haha. Anyway, yes, this is my first Pern fanfiction, and I'm cowriting it with XIII Dragon. When I asked him what he wanted to say in this author's note, he said "Just say we want criticisms and although I am co-author, I've done next to nothing" which is totally untrue!_**

**_Ok, not about the criticisms. We do want those. But not just those. We also want praise. I do at least. Please? -giggles- anyway, he has _not_ done next to nothing._**

**_Val is entirely his character and I have to consult him every other minute to ask what would Val do in this circumstance? Or what would Val say if I had Caleea say this? And at least half the ideas are his. Just because he doesn't really do any of the writing part, doesn't mean he does next to nothing. So hah._**

**_But anyway. Hope you enjoy this story as much as we enjoyed planning it out! And still are, actually, we only have two chapters so far, -giggles-. So read it, enjoy it, review it, criticise it, praise it...please!_**

**_Haha I just realized that the title's acronyms are "elias" and I actually knew someone by that name once. Weird._**

* * *

**Chapter 1:**

_Every life is a story,_ Caleea mused as thunderous applause filled the dining hall, _whether it gets written or not._ And each of the four apprentices walking the tables around her were about to start a brand new chapter.

Caleea secretly envied them. Not in the way that the other apprentices did. The others just resented the fact that the Masters hadn't found any of _them _worthy of making journeymen yet. Caleea envied them their stories. She made stories all the time; tales about young holder girls, heroic dragonriders, brave craftsmen—all of them triumphed in the end. Triumphed just like the new journeymen were doing tonight. A perfect contrast to the failure in Caleea's own life.

None of the four walking the tables had been in the other apprentices' bets on who'd be making journeyman this night, but the Masters knew what they were doing. Each of the boys had been at the Harper Hall at least two turns and Caleea knew they were deserving of their new titles. She didn't begrudge them their right to success.

The clapping died down, all breaths held, as yet more journeymen stood from the oval tables. _Three._ The long apprentice tables nearer the great hearth were amazingly and unusually silent in anticipation as the last journeymen approached.

Sighing inaudibly, Caleea ignored the tension surrounding her and speared another bite of the now-tasteless roast wherry with her knife, peering around the dimly lit cavern. She couldn't see her friend, but then again it would be extremely difficult to pick him out of a crowd if he didn't want to be seen, whether he was her best friend or not.

As footsteps sounded behind her, Caleea politely set her knife down and glanced to both sides. After the events of this evening she'd been in such a haste to find an open seat she hadn't noticed who she sat near.

_What could the Masters be thinking?_ Caleea wondered, eyes wide, as she absently brushed a brown curl away from her face. The only apprentice within four places of her that was even _possible _of walking yet would be Brendi; and while she did show more promise and natural talent than the others sitting next to her, she'd only been here a mere sevenday. And she was no Menolly; she couldn't possibly—

A hand on Caleea's shoulder halted her speculations and she slowly turned her head, barely able to hope. After a second that felt more like a Turn, she faced Journeyman Talan, a broad grin on his lopsided face.

In her shock, she had to concentrate hard to keep her curious little green from darting into the hall to see what was going on. If Minia came in now, it would only cause more attention to be drawn to Caleea, and _that_ she wasn't keen on. It was bad enough she owned a green fire lizard—something that was considered too important for a simple apprentice . . .

* * *

"_They're sending _us_ to find a clutch?" Caleea asked the boy in front of her for the third time._

"_Mmhm," the boy, Val, murmured, pressing on ahead of her through the increasingly soft sand. Caleea'd only met him about a month ago, when she'd first come to the Harper Hall, but from day one she'd figured out he wasn't exactly someone to trust with valuables._

"_Why?" she asked, trying to convey all of her disbelief and doubt in that one word._

"_They think it'll make me more responsible. And that you'll stop me from keeping any of the eggs."_

"_They told you that?"_

"_No, but it's not hard to figure out. For some reason they trust you with me."_

_Caleea giggled, imagining a sour expression on his innocent-looking features. His full name was Valth, but he surprisingly hadn't objected to her—and her alone—calling him Val. Just as amazingly, he hadn't objected to her persistent company._

_She'd hung around him since the incredibly chaotic day one; ever since she convinced those journeymen that Val had been with _her_ the entire day, whether that was true or not, showing her around the Hall, and couldn't have _possibly_ stolen any marks. They had no reason to doubt _Caleea_, so that was settled._

_But after the journeymen left she still hadn't believed Val entirely when, green eyes _perfectly_ innocent, he claimed he'd been framed. It was amazing how many times that month those green eyes could get themselves into trouble. But according to everyone else he'd gotten into less than half as much trouble as usual, with Caleea around. And she definitely preferred his company over the other dimglow apprentices._

"_There!" she suddenly exclaimed, startled out of her musings by the mound she spotted to her left, sort of surprised that Val hadn't seen it first._

_Not waiting for his response, Caleea darted toward the mound. In her excitement, she didn't even hear the waves which had finally come into view._

_She fell to her knees, brushing her hands carefully as silk over the eggs, brushing away the coarse sand. All she found were empty shells._

"_Not a Gold's," Val quietly repeated what Caleea hadn't heard before. "Come on, let's go."_

"_But—" the slight girl started, running her hands over the poor, desolate things. She felt like crying. All those beautiful miniature dragons, dead before they even broke shell._

"_You know that's what happens to Green clutches. Let's go." Caleea was kind of surprised he hadn't just left without her._

"_Val!"_

"_Caleea . . ."_

"_This one's still alive!" She picked up the small sphere, hard as a rock, but she was convinced it wasn't one. She cradled it carefully in her milky hands, turning hopefully to look up at the boy standing over her._

"_How can you be sure?"_

_A crack suddenly formed in the creamy surface and Caleea squealed, but didn't drop it. She barely saw Val's eyes widen as he knelt next to her and then her full attention was on the little green form Hatching right into her hands._

_Almost in a trance she reached for the meatrolls in the pack at her belt, awed at the creeling of the beautiful jewel-toned hatchling._

"_Here, here, you silly dear thing, don't eat my hand," she crooned softly._

_Not in the mood to think about the implications this event might have on her future at the Harper Hall, Caleea thought Val would ask what her new darling's name was when he cleared his throat. But she really should have anticipated what he did say; it was so like him._

"_Scorch it!"_

* * *

Still hardly daring to believe she'd actually made _journeyman_, Caleea stood, trying not to stumble over the bench and managing a small smile back at Journeyman Talan. The fresh round of applause—for her, this time—was drowned out by abrupt panic as she froze for an instant in the face of so much attention, desperately scanning the suddenly unfamiliar sea of people around her.

Then she found him, Val, halfway across the hall, also being led to the oval tables. His eyes met hers for a second and she thought she saw him wink, but it could have been a trick of the light. Relief washed over her. She should have known none of the Masters would have wanted them split up, but she was still elated; _they'd both made it!_

The knowledge snapped Caleea out of her paralysis just as she felt a slight pressure on her arm. She resumed walking, a true smile lighting her face, for once ignoring the fact that the entire Harper Hall would be staring.

She should probably be keeping an eye on Val; he'd likely _already _lifted marks from the journeyman leading him, unless the girl had enough forewarning from the Masters to remove anything valuable from her person before getting within spitting distance of Val.

Caleea suppressed the desire to roll her eyes and giggle at the same time. She'd already gotten her friend out of trouble once this evening, and as usual kept him out for most of the day beforehand. If he wanted to joke around and thieve himself into more mischief tonight then she could deal with it later. This was as much _her_ time to shine as his. Not that he was exactly a shining kind of person.

In spite of her slight worry for Val, she was still incredulous. She, Caleea, had truly made journeyman. If she wasn't so happy, she thought she might have cried. She'd excelled, she'd triumphed, she'd _made it._

She could almost hear Minia's exultant chittering—wait, she _could _hear it. Caleea tried to keep her cool as her gaze darted around, landing on a pair of quickly whirling dots, glowing blue. _Stay above the hearth,_ she thought firmly to her little darling. If Minia stayed still, perhaps no one would notice the little green's presence.

Caleea breathed in again as Minia settled back, content to be allowed to stay in the same room. Hopefully no one else could see her with all the cheering going on.

Val made some snide comment—it didn't _sound _snide on the surface, but Caleea knew any remark he made publicly almost always contained some amount of subtle sarcasm, whether it was a compliment, joke, or simple statement. Still, she ignored him for now; the incessant applauding drowning out most of what he said anyway.

As she took her final steps to the journeyman tables, along with the other two former apprentices, all other sounds silenced by the impossibly _louder _clapping, Caleea realized: this was _her _story. And it was finally going right. It was so different from the rest of her life—even from a mere Turn ago.

That day haunted most of her waking hours but for once she welcomed the memory, finally able to conquer it . . .

_

* * *

Caleea stared out at the empty stretch of hot sand. Empty of everything but shards of dragon eggs. The other Candidates who'd failed to Impress had already left; now it was just her._

I should have just stayed a trader_, Caleea thought viciously, clenching her fists. This was the second Hatching she'd failed in a row. What would she do now? If she did return to trading, would her group let her back in? They'd already taken her in once, but would they accept her after she'd been Searched and they hadn't?_

"_Cal!" a voice called, getting closer._

_Caleea turned, trying not to look too dejected. She should be used to this, right?_

"_You know I don't like you to call me that," Caleea said, sighing overdramatically as her friend Nirra pulled up next to her and pulled her into an embrace._

"_Fine, _Caleea_," Nirra emphasized._

_Caleea smiled but it didn't quite reach her dimmed brown eyes. Nirra was a greenrider—still a weyrling. They'd been Candidates together in the last Hatching and even though Nirra had moved on and Impressed her Gailith, they hadn't quite lost their friendship._

"_Oh, Cally, I know you're disappointed but I've got some good news for you."_

_Caleea let the name thing slide as Nirra hugged her again and curiosity overcame her._

"_What's the good news? I get to go back and try this Hatching again?" Sarcastic as her voice was, inside she felt almost like her giggly, normal self—Nirra's enthusiasm was contagious._

"_No, silly! The Candidate master talked to Master Menolly—__the_ actual Menolly_—and the Harper Hall needs more girls to even out the boys and he told her about your skills and even though you wouldn't be able to stand again and I'd really miss you I'm so happy for you that she's willing to bring you back to the Harper Hall as an apprentice!"_

_Caleea blinked as she tried to take it all in. Menolly? Giving her a chance to be a Harper?_

"_That's great," she managed as her greenrider friend bounded off the Hatching Grounds, dragging Caleea behind her._

_She tried to act happy as she gathered her things, rode for the second time in her life _between_, and landed—after an amazing view that she took no note of—in the courtyard of the actual Harper Hall._

_But as she dismounted with the help of the bluerider who'd taken her, smoothing her wherhide jacket, she couldn't help but cringe at the horde of awed and envious apprentices watching from the doorways._

Crowds. Staring. Strangers._ Caleea was alone, once again, among unfamiliars. First the traders, then the Weyr, now the Harper Hall. How many more times would she fail and be whisked away to someplace new?_

_Clutching her pack to her chest, she walked bravely toward the front line of people._

_But before she could muster up the courage to say anything, there was a commotion in the crowd. A dark-haired, medium built boy raced out, grabbed her by the hand, and dragged her after him as he darted through the courtyard to the main building._

_Too startled to pull away, Caleea simply stumbled after him, tripping over her boots, trying not to drop her pack._

"_Name's Valth. I'm supposed to show you around." He threw a glance over his shoulder and Caleea followed his gaze to see three people chasing after them. "Oh, don't mind them. A simple misunderstanding. That right there's restricted; that's the boys' barracks; that's where you'll be sleeping; that's . . ."_

_Was he really a guide, or was he just using her as an excuse to throw off their pursuers? Giggling a bit, close to feeling like her old self, Caleea followed dutifully, not really caring at this point._

_As she glanced around at her rapidly passing surroundings , 16-Turn-old Caleea took as deep a cleansing breath as she could while panting after Valth._

_Now only if she could stay _here_ for more than one Turn._

* * *

Perhaps that day wasn't so bad, Caleea thought on reflection. It was the day she met Val. But this wasn't the time to dwell on the past. This was _her_ story, her life, and today she was starting her own brand new chapter.

Sure she hadn't lasted more than a Turn, but this time it was a good thing.

"Where do you think we'll be posted?" asked one of the new journeymen to her left.

His answer was drowned out by the affronted "Shells!" coming from somewhere to Caleea's right. She stifled her giggles with a hand. _Apparently she _wasn't _forewarned, _Caleea thought. _Well, at least nothing's changed._


	2. Chapter 2

**_Ok, well, thank you to our ONE reviewer, 'truegold-dragonstar.' Your review was very helpful and nice and since you seem to be the only person interested in this fic I hope you review again. Anyone reading this . . . PLEASE REVIEW! I'm begging you! My partner, XIII Dragon, isn't begging you, but he's not really the begging sort, just the "Mmhm"-ing sort, or the shrugging sort, so don't let that get to you. Review!_**

**_Again this is in Caleea's POV so it's written by me, but I couldn't have pulled off Val's character or half the ideas of the whole story without XIII Dragon's help, so much credit goes to him._**

**_We are updating weekly and have plenty of story written in advance so no worries about regular updates. So, enjoy this one!_**

**_Oh and XIII Dragon got extremely annoyed that I didn't put a disclaimer on the last chapter, so here's a double-disclaimer to appease him:_**

**_Disclaimer: I do not now, nor have I ever, nor will I ever likely, own Pern, the Harper Hall, fire-lizards, or anything, pretty much. Unless I ever get an original story published._**

**_Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own it. What's wrong with Anne Mccaffrey? Why hasn't she put it in her will that ownership of Pern should fall to me if she ever dies?_**

**_Disclaimer: I'm putting up a third disclaimer to further appease XIII Dragon since I've just beaten him in a contest of wits and wills and words and he's grumbling about it. I Do Not Own Pern. :)_**

* * *

**Chapter 2:**

_Keep him out of trouble._ The stern voice and kind smile of Master Sebell resounded in Journeyman Caleea's head as she and Journeyman Val waited in the nearly empty courtyard. It'd been nearly a sevenday since they'd walked the tables, but Caleea still felt wonder at being able to address herself and Val as journeymen.

All fourteen of the journeymen being posted had their packs ready. They were just waiting for inspection before the midday meal and subsequent public announcement of the postings, though each knew personally where he or she was being sent. And Caleea and Val had the honour of going to Nerat Hold. The sea had always fascinated Caleea . . . it was bound to be better than freezing High Reaches.

Twelve of them were standing nervously in front of their shoulderbags, all in a row like unruly apprentices being called to order. Caleea and Val, though, were slightly apart from the group; Val leaned nearly unnoticed against the wall, bag at his feet, while Caleea stood next to him, pack in hand, a near invisible shadow with a green bulge sleeping on her shoulder.

Holding herself back from pacing, the slight girl braced herself with a hand on the sun-warmed stone and leaned toward Val. "What color do you think we rate?" she asked breathlessly.

"Dragon? Probably a blue or green," he answered evenly. Smirking, he added, "So that we've got less to steal and less possibility of offending anyone."

"That's what I thought," Caleea whispered back. A second later the full impact of his words hit her. So she hit Val, causing Minia to squawk in her ear and latch her tail more firmly around Caleea's neck.

"Ow! What?" Val exclaimed, holding a hand to his head, drawing nervous glances from a few of the others.

"I should be offended by that! What do you mean, 'we'?" Caleea asked indignantly.

Val instantly assumed an innocent air. "What are you talking about? I don't see any insult to you in my use of the word 'we'." Then he rolled his eyes. "You just decided to take it that way."

Pointedly ignoring him by turning away and stroking Minia back to contentedness, Caleea rolled her own eyes skyward, restraining herself from smacking her infuriating friend again. Her little darling chirruped contentedly, drawing the unnoticed longing attention of Journeyman Allib and his brown Knari

From behind Caleea, Val's slightly mocking, bored tones commented: "You'd better keep her in check. Harper Hall's one thing, but soon we'll be surrounded by even more fire-lizards, at Nerat, and I don't need your nearly-proddy green drawing every male in the Hold. You know I dislike crowds."

Just as Caleea spun to serve out some well-deserved scathing retort, a colorful flash—one of several—caught her eye and the words died on her lips.

Greens, blues, and even a brown. The attention of the journeymen was diverted once again as Masters Sebell and Menolly strode out to the courtyard. Menolly turned to greet the dismounting dragonmen while Sebell turned to the waiting group of journeyers.

Everyone else seemed tense (except for Val, of course) but Caleea was only eager. In a few more hours she'd be a true journeyman—or journeywoman as some of the prissier girls were proclaiming—preparing to journey on a circuit of small holdings, spreading news and new Teaching Ballads to those without a resident Harper.

Sebell moved quickly down the line, and Caleea assumed it was because harpers of all ranks were already starting to gather for the meal.

At first she had been scared; scared of being alone again among strangers.

"Alone among strangers? Again?" Val had mused. "Then you can journey with me. I quite enjoy your company." At Caleea's smile he added: "Like they'd try to split us up anyway."

And they hadn't. Sebell's words repeated in Caleea's mind again. The Master reached the last two in line and gave her a meaningful look. Already standing up straight, Caleea urgently nudged Val.

"What?" he murmured, entirely unconcerned.

The look on Sebell's face as he walked away clearly echoed Caleea's own thoughts. _At least he isn't out pickpocketing._

Good influence or not, this was definitely going to be harder than she had anticipated.

* * *

Panting slightly, Caleea raced back to the waiting green. At least her rider didn't seem too put-out, just amused. Ignoring his and Val's chuckles, she clambered up behind her friend, clutching her journal. Even though everyone else used the white sheets, most of Caleea's memories and stories had been written in this hidebound journal and she refused to leave without it. 

It wasn't very late here, early afternoon, which meant, by her calculations, that it would be nearly sunset at Nerat. She hadn't made them all that much later by ransacking her old room looking for the journal. She sighed a bit as she slipped the precious book into her pack. _Between_. Caleea didn't like it, not at all. And she'd only been _between_ twice. Looking back, it was probably a good thing she hadn't Impressed during that Turn at Benden Weyr.

Shivering in anticipation rather than chill, she pulled her wherhide jacket closer around her. An instant later, the green—Pinth—took off and Caleea frantically latched on to Val, sitting in front of her or, rather, above her with the near-vertical angle they'd assumed. She felt him chuckle and realized, _he's never been _between_ before._

A smug tone in her voice, Caleea leaned forward and asked him, "Scared of _between?_"

The ground spiraled away below them and Minia chirped questioningly from her owner's shoulder. _She_ wasn't afraid of _between_.

"Me?" Val responded skeptically, shouting over the wind, and even then his words barely reached Caleea. "Scared? Oh please. I'm—"

The freezing black nothingness of _between_ cut off his words. Caleea had been holding tight to Val but suddenly she couldn't feel him.

_Cough three times, cough three times, cough three times, cough three times,_ she repeated frantically to herself. She would _never_ get used to this.

Reality popped back into being in an explosion of orange sunlight and salty air, the green dragon back under her and Val in front of her. They weren't too terribly high up; the sea wasn't visible yet. But the Hold below, bustling with everyday activity, reminded Caleea of her days as a trader, traveling from Hold to Hold.

The sun was almost set—hopefully it wouldn't take too long to get used to the time difference. Waves of gold and pink washed over them as Pinth circled in to land.

As soon as her surroundings sunk in, Caleea turned her attention back to her journeyman friend. Val's hands resting on Pinth's neck ridge in front of him were pale, and he was visibly trembling.

"So that was _between_," he said, giving a small laugh that was every bit as wavering as his voice. "What a letdown."

Caleea rolled her eyes at Val's pitiful attempt to sound indifferent. The usually-cocky boy was obviously shaken to the core, and about time. She couldn't help but feel a little jealous at his control, though; when she'd first come out of between it had taken the blue rider who'd brought her to the Weyr over a minute to quiet her screams.

Retorts and things she could say to tease Val scrolled through Caleea's mind, but Minia crooned worriedly in her ear and she thought better of it. Instead she just tightened her hold on the young man as Pinth's muscles shifted under them and Caleea prepared for the impact of her landing.

Dismounting was considerably easier. With all the jumping out of windows they'd done this past Turn—often Val dragged Caleea with him—they were practically experts at falling from such a distance.

Caleea mentally urged Minia to stay out of sight. The little green chirruped sadly in her ear and darted off, probably to find out if there were any other fire lizards about to play with.

Perhaps it was simply because there weren't nearly as many children here as at the Harper Hall, but the greeting crowd seemed considerably smaller and less overly enthusiastic. All for the best, of course. It dissipated almost as soon as the greenrider departed, graciously declining the Hold's hospitality.

"Welcome to Nerat Hold," said a tall, thin, dark man that could only be the resident Harper judging by the string of pipes at his belt.

"Here we usually sleep soon after the sun goes down, so you will not cause any commotion after that time," an abrupt, harsh female voice said. The voice came from the equally harsh, sharp face of the woman standing next to the Harper.

"Headwoman Jiri here will show you around," the Harper's smooth voice cut in. "Once you've settled your things in your quarters, report back to me for your assignment."

Caleea nodded mutely. Jiri turned without another word and Caleea made to follow her. A slight pressure on her arm made her look up to see the browned Harper walking in step with her.

"I'm Harper Kallim, by the way," he said. Was that a hint of worry in his voice? "Now, I'm not hidebound but many still are, and I was told you were to be traveling with a partner . . ."

Caleea was suddenly aware of Val's absence. Trying to act casual and not panic, she answered Kallim as if nothing was wrong. "Oh, I am. Val—Valth. I'm sure he's around here somewhere."

A broad grin revealing white teeth appeared on Kallim's face. "I'm glad I wasn't misinformed, then. You're both to report to me once Jiri's done with you, understand?"

"Yes, Kallim."

By this time the stone walls of the Hold loomed over them and as Caleea followed Jiri into the main Hold, Kallim took off down another passage. _By the Egg, where did Val go?_ Off doing something forbidden, assuredly. Caleea didn't really mind at the moment; she just didn't want to be _alone_.

The next second, without a sound, Val was walking by her side down the dimly lit, confusing corridors behind the eerily silent Jiri. As if he'd never left.

"Where were you?" Caleea exclaimed in a whisper.

"Oh, here and there," Val answered casually with a wave of his hand.

"You can't do this, Val! We need to make a good impression."

Whatever response Val might have had was cut off as Jiri halted, her callous whisper surprisingly quiet. "To your left is the dining hall. We rise early and you will both be expected to do the same." The slight emphasis on the word "both" made Caleea wince; Jiri had noticed Val's abrupt return.

At some unseen signal a slim, curvy girl with blue eyes—probably about Caleea's age—stepped out of a side door.

"Myska, take these two to their quarters," Jiri turned and glared at the waiting pair. "I have better things to do," she added as Myska nodded eagerly.

"This way!" the girl whispered, gesturing down a passageway to their left as her superior turned down another corridor. Various door-filled tunnels came more often, now, to both sides. Caleea was truly lost in this maze, though she didn't think they'd walked terribly far since entering the Hold, and they hadn't even gone up any stairs yet.

"Now, you'll probably need to check in with Harper Kallim?"

"Those were our orders," Caleea replied, smiling a bit.

Myska grinned back over her shoulder. "The teaching room and the Harper's quarters are down there," she gestured. "Blue curtains so you can't miss them!"

Out of the corner of her eye Caleea saw Val slow just a bit and she reached out, grabbing his hand firmly in hers. When he looked at her innocently she just frowned and shook her head. _We have to make a good impression,_ she mouthed at him.

He simply shrugged and continued walking innocently as if he'd never intended to stop. Myska, oblivious of the exchange, was whispering on about her quarters and her sister's quarters and pretty much anyone's quarters that came to mind. She reminded Caleea a bit of her greenrider friend.

"Here we are! This will be your room," Myska stopped in front of one in a series of curtained doorways and gestured. "I've got a cot all set up and ready for the two of you," she grinned broadly, "so you can get as much sleep as possible once you report to Kall—the Harper. You'll need it if you're to be traveling at first light . . ."

Caleea could only stare. "A cot?" she asked blankly for clarification. She glanced behind her at Val, expecting him to be laughing or something.

He was smiling innocently, which was even worse. Then suddenly he threw an arm around her shoulders. "Did you hear that, dear? How considerate of them."

"Don't worry," Myska said, winking, "once I heard you two were _traveling together, _I made sure you had a room to yourselves, even though Jiri set two up."

Thinking that death, or at least unconsciousness, would be more desirable than standing there at the moment, but having no way to achieve either, Caleea just managed a nod.

"Thanks . . ." she said vaguely, trying to suppress her mortification.

With another smile and wink, Myska was off back down the passage they'd come in, probably to her own quarters.

Ignoring Val, who was smirking and trying to call her "my pet" or something, Caleea shrugged his arm away and pushed her bag through the curtain, catching a glimpse of the cot, furs piled high, just big enough for two people. Only one cot, as promised.

_Shards! How in the name of Faranth do I get out of this one?_

Sighing a bit, she kept her head down to hide the pink flush on her cheeks as she started uncertainly down the tunnels, running her hand along the dark stone walls, assuming Val would follow.

She knew she'd have to say something to him eventually—they were _not_ going to both sleep in that bed—but they had things to do first, and she didn't feel she could look him in the eye just yet. Torn between laughter and outrage, she knew either one would wake someone up and cause trouble.

She and Val retraced their steps, searching for blue curtains. Caleea really hoped they wouldn't get lost in here; that would be nearly as embarrassing as the room situation.

Minia popped into the air in front of them with ecstatic chittering.

"Minia! Hush!" Caleea whispered frantically. "You'll wake the Hold!"

Giving one last _cheep_, Minia quieted and settled huffily on Caleea's shoulder, flipping her wings back. But she still broadcasted happy images of cavorting with the Hold's fire-lizards.

"One of the many reasons, sweetheart, that I've no interest in a fire-lizard of my own."

Caleea started to turn, cheeks flushed, to punch Val in the shoulder but stopped herself before she set off Minia. The little green was already fidgeting with the effort of being still and quiet for more than a few seconds.

The tension Caleea had created between the two had all but disappeared in the forced silence, though, by the time they finally found the blue curtains that signaled the Harper's quarters.

The tired senior Journeyman gave them routine advice and instructions, which Caleea took in good grace, all the while keeping a close eye on Val who leaned casually but completely inoffensively against one wall. The maps of their route Caleea glanced eagerly at but didn't let distract her from the rest of Kallim's words.

When they finally got back to their rooms, it was surprisingly late. They'd only get maybe five hours of sleep. No wonder Kallim was so tired.

"Our bodies are still used to Fort time, I guess," Caleea murmured to herself as she walked back through the curtain. She was too tired to find the way herself, but Minia had easily led her back from the washroom.

"Quite true, dearest, so we'd better get to sleep," Val agreed amiably from where he was stretched out on the now-mussed furs, apparently having the time of his life. He set down a gitar he'd been playing, and quite beautifully, too.

"Ok, first of all, I'm not your dearest! I don't know where she—"

"After all, love," he continued as if she'd never spoken, "we have got an early day tomorrow."

Minia was evidence of Caleea's utter fury, taking to the air with eyes whirling ferociously red. He wasn't even using _sarcasm! _He was just being infuriating! Utterly silent, Caleea stalked to the cot, pushing the young man off. She was no weakling and he landed hard on the stone floor on the other side, in slight shock.

Caleea pulled the furs around her. "You," she said, feeling perfectly justified in her actions, "are sleeping on the _ground."_


	3. Chapter 3

**_Ok our usual update is Thursday, and we will be updating then with chapter 4, but I'm extremely bored and we actually got two reviewers on chapter 2 with some great criticisms (which XIII Dragon appreciates more than me, of course), so I'm sneaking on and updating an extra chap in-between weekly updates. Yep, I know, I'm bad. Oh well._**

**_Ok, so, if I was asking XIII Dragon what he wanted to say he would probably just ask for criticisms, so I don't even have to ask him. He loves criticisms. I find them to be helpful, of course, but he's obsessed or something. Wait, I think one of his betas called him obsessed over criticisms once . . . crap, now I AM sounding like them._**

**_Anyway, me, I'm asking for reviews in general, criticism or not. Come on, we got over 125 hits total for this story so far, so I know that someone out there has got to be reading this besides our two reviewers!_**

**_P.S. I really like compliments . . ._**

**_This is, once again, all in Caleea's POV which is my POV, so I didn't feel too guilty about doing what I wanted with it (posting it). On Thursday we'll update with chapter 4, which for the first (but not only) time in this fic, has Val's POV written by XIII Dragon since it's his character. So, enjoy this chap and comment!! Please! Reviews inspire us (at least me) so that we won't run out of things to post!_**

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**Chapter 3:**

Caleea woke, warm. She was in a cot more comfortable than her quarters at the Harper Hall, covered in soft brown furs, Minia's small warm figure nestled against her. Content how she was, Caleea really didn't want to open her eyes. But her body was telling her it was dawn and she needed to get up or she'd miss breakfast.

_I've gone without breakfast before . . . _came her groggy thought.

Then her mind broke in, telling her she needed to get up or she'd have to face the wrath of Jiri. Her eyes sprang open. And met Val's, not two inches away. Minia squawked awake and took off, hovering in the air.

In an instant, Caleea was out of bed, shivering against the morning chill. "What are you _doing_?"

"Staying warm," Val's groggy voice muttered.

Caleea sighed. That was Val, and there wasn't anything she could do about it. So she walked back to the cot and dug through the pack hanging on one end, pulling out a new outfit, harper blue. She fingered her pipe, the first one she'd ever made that was worth anything, but left it for now. She briefly brushed her hand over the cover of her journal, but anything she wanted to write in it would have to wait until after breakfast.

Put out at her rude awakening, Minia disappeared _between_, to look for the fire-lizards she'd played with the day before.

Caleea laughed at the little green and smacked Val upside the head. "Wake up," she said, pulling off yesterday's tunic, "it's dawn already."

Val yawned and rolled over, mumbling something incoherent. Caleea finished dressing and walked back to the cot, yanking the furs off Val. He was still wearing the same attire from yesterday; apprentices learn early on to sleep fully clothed. "Get _up._"

His hand shot out and latched onto Caleea's wrist. Without even opening his eyes, Val pulled her and half the furs back onto the cot.

"Val . . ." Caleea started in a warning tone of voice, failing to stifle her giggles.

"Come on, Caleea, sleep in for once. We're not at the Harper Hall anymore."

"But we're journeymen. On duty." Caleea tried getting up but her arm was pinned down.

"Exactly. We're journeymen; we have privileges. Like sleeping in."

Would the boy never be sensible?

"Oh, and when we end up going without breakfast and arrive too late for supper at our first stop, just how privileged will you feel?"

"We've got plenty of time," Val said casually, eyes still closed as if he was still trying to sleep. "Shells, it's only just dawn."

"The smaller holds will probably have some lenience, especially for _you_," Caleea responded, rolling her eyes and trying once again to pull away from Val's grip and failing, crashing down practically on top of him. _Since when is he too strong for me to hold off?_ "But here—"

"Caleea!" A voice cut Caleea off from the doorway. Myska, the girl from the day before, stopped in her tracks, suddenly blushing furiously. "Um . . ." the girl started, giggling.

"It's ok," Caleea said hastily, suddenly summoning the strength to pull away from Val and leap out of bed, "we're awake."

"Sorry to bother you . . ."

"No bother. We were just getting ready to come down, weren't we _darling?_" Caleea asked, looking at Val who was still stretched out on the cot, arms behind his head and a completely unconcerned look on his face.

"It's just," Myska's giggles stopped and her brow creased into a frown, "Jiri's strict about breakfast and if you don't come down soon there won't be any left."

"I'm sure if you consult her, Jiri will inform you of other plans." Val. Of course.

Caleea turned, confused, to Val. "Other plans?" she asked. "What other plans?"

"Just ask her, Myska, and don't worry about us," Val said, and Myska hurried away, eyes wide with uncertainty.

"What have you done?" Caleea groaned.

"Just get back to bed. I told you we could sleep in." The dark-haired boy closed his eyes again.

Shaking her head, Caleea sat back down on the cot, slipping under the furs. What else could she do? It was obvious she wasn't going to win this morning.

"By the First Egg, if I miss breakfast I'm blaming you."

* * *

The two journeymen had been walking for most of the day. Minia fell asleep draped across Caleea's shoulders, her tail a glowing jewel necklace, after the first hour. 

Caleea hadn't lasted long against Val's stoic silence and the unhelpful miles of bland dirt path and stones; soon curiosity overcame any restraint.

"How _did_ you get her to give us breakfast in bed, two hours after dawn?" she'd blurted, turning toward him.

Val simply chuckled, shifting his bag to his other shoulder. _Thinks he can get away with that, does he, _Caleea thought.

Careful not to dislodge the little green fire-lizard, she shoved his shoulder. "How? Come on, tell me! I _know_ I was part of it."

"Hey," Val shrugged, "they thought we were together; why not milk it for what it's worth?"

Caleea rolled her eyes. Ever since she met Val she'd done it more and more. "Of course. 'It's not a crime unless you get caught,' right?"

"Precisely." Now he was sounding smug on top of it. Oh, that was it.

"Tell me," Caleea said, trying to stifle her giggles, halting in her tracks, and grabbing Val's arm, stopping him and rousing Minia, "exactly _how_ you pulled it off."

The tiny green leapt into the air, spreading her wings and chittering angrily. She hovered over the pair, eyes slowly fading from red, watching the pair curiously.

"Or?" Val asked, his look daring.

The intensity of Caleea's gaze faltered. Or what? Val was a _thief_. Questionable morals, no regard for what others thought of him. There wasn't anything she could threaten to say that would bother him in the least. Or do. Nothing she could hold over his head.

Caleea blinked a couple times, not even seeing Val next to her anymore. He'd been a loner for quite awhile. She couldn't even threaten to leave. It was _her_ that needed _his_ company. She'd never thought of it that way before.

It didn't have much to do with her initial question or the matter in general, but she realized that whatever Val wanted out of life probably didn't have to include her. _I'm the one who needs a friend; who needs people; who wants a home._

Her heart raced faster, arm dropping to her side. She could be alone again at anytime.

Noticing the widening of Caleea's eyes as they glazed over, Val put a hand on her shoulder and shook.

"Hey!"

Caleea shook herself. Not the time to think about it. Definitely not. This was _Val_ she was talking about . . .

Pushing the thoughts to the back of her mind, hopefully forever, she smacked her friend upside the head.

"Ow!" Val yelped, clutching his head.

Caleea started giggling. "Or I'll do _that_ again."

"Okay," he starting walking again, "let's just say Jiri has a . . . romantic side."

Her mouth was agape for a moment, and then she burst out laughing, running to catch up to her fellow journeyman.

But all that was several hours ago, before the camaraderie was replaced by the endlessly monotonous miles of roadways, and silence brought on by lack of anything to say.

Minia had curled up inside Val's pack to sleep once she tired of riding on Caleea's shoulder. Even her pipe-playing couldn't keep Caleea occupied for long. They weren't walking fast, so she had enough breath to play, but once she ran out of easy songs it became tiresome. And Val had refused to play so that she could practice her harmonies.

The sun was close to setting, which hopefully meant they'd be within sight of their first stop soon.

"Why do we have to walk, anyway?" Val asked for the tenth time since they'd started. "Walking is so _tiresome_. They had runnerbeasts—"

"Val!" Caleea cut him off, starting to get annoyed. "They didn't have enough to spare. It's not such a far walk, so it doesn't matter. It's not as if we're walking the entire length of Nerat in one day."

"If you'd let me I could have stolen two, framed someone else, and been at Jeeran's hold up there by lunchtime," the journeyman grumbled.

"Val!" She cried, exasperated. "You know we can't do that! We're their _harpers_. Why do you always want to take things that aren't yours?" Caleea kept her voice down only out of habit. "The _moment_ news of something like that got back to the Harper Hall they'd know it was you and then where would we be?"

_Where I'm always at,_ she thought bitterly.

"Where we're always at," he unknowingly repeated, not even concerned. "Me running and you using those eyes of yours to woo people into believing our innocence."

Caleea started to giggle again but stopped herself. "Val . . ." she turned her head away. "Val, we can't live like that forever. We have something stable here. Our futures. Journeymen harpers, spreading knowledge and learning throughout all of Pern! Isn't that what you wanted?" _Because it's sure as anything what I've always wanted._

"Of course not," Val stated. "I want to travel, see all of Pern; have some fun."

The frustrated girl closed her eyes, putting a hand to her head. He didn't—never would understand how important this was to her. That was just his way. If she didn't want to drive him away she'd just have to deal with it.

She opened her eyes and grabbed Val's arm. "Sorry," she said when he turned his green eyes on her. "You're right. We should be having some fun."

Minia popped from _between_ overhead, clutching Val's half-empty canteen in her forepaws. He looked up just as she tilted it and water splashed down around him, soaking his face and shirt.

By the time he turned back to Caleea she was already taking advantage of her head start. She started laughing, carefree, as she heard Val break into a run behind her, knowing she couldn't stay ahead of him for long.

"Hey!" he called. "That's cheating!"

" 'Not cheating unless you get caught!' "

"I _did_ catch you cheating!"

"But you didn't _catch_ me!"


	4. Chapter 4

**_Ok, here's the promised regular update:) This starts out in Val's POV, which means the first section was written by XIII Dragon! Yay! And the second part was by me. OK I'll keep this short. Thank you all (our one dedicated reviewer/reader, and one other person who reviewed once) for your suggestions and criticisms and tips and support! (And cookie!) We really appreciate it and of course always want more! So demanding... but we do give you regular updates in return. ;) Also, XIII Dragon had the idea to ask all of you for advice. Neither of us has been drunk, and we need some advice on hangovers for the next chapter. It's written but if anyone could PM me with what it's really like to be hungover I would gladly change it to a more accurate experience. Apart from that, all I've got to say is enjoy!_**

**_(edit: Now I feel like an idiot because I didn't check for reviews before posting this. We got another reviewer who likes our story! This makes three reviewers total! Hooray! And sorry I initially left you out! BTW sorry if it wasn't clear, but Caleea was at the Harper Hall a little over a Turn before becoming a journeyman.)_**

**_(second edit: sorry everyone about the section and pov switches being unclear! the way we indicate the changes in our document format doesn't work in fanfiction which is stupid but oh well. i'll try to remember that from now on and fix it before i post!)_**

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Chapter 4: 

Val sighed and stepped into the room after Caleea and their guide, Perran. The young holder boy was walking far too closely to Caleea in his opinion. If they'd stuck to the romantic couple story Jiri'd assumed at the last hold, the main Hold, this wouldn't have been a problem. Even if a bronze fire lizard owner was involved.

Caleea giggled and Val's eyes narrowed. Had it been _him _Perran unwisely stood so close to, anything of worth would have already been lifted, without his knowledge.

He sighed and stepped all the way in, closing the door behind him. Trust Caleea to want to start teaching the children as soon as possible.

Val glanced around the room. It was pretty spacious, with desks already set up and a window facing the sea, the sunset just out of sight. Thread wasn't for another two days, so all windows were open to let the fresh air in.

There weren't any objects of real value in the room; the only thing was probably the large oak desk in the middle of the room. Too hard to steal that. There probably wasn't anything in the connecting room to his left either.

Rolling his head to the side, the journeyman glanced over and saw Caleea, standing with Perran, giggling at something he'd said. He rolled his eyes and shook his head. Perran moved closer and said something in a hushed tone. Val gritted his teeth silently. Why should he care if she was flirting with some holder she'd likely never see again?

The soft-featured harper girl said something in return and was rewarded with a rich laugh. Growling slightly, Val called over his shoulder, "I thought you wanted to teach the children." Adding under his breath, "Not flirt like a wherry-headed green."

The pair turned their attention to him and he raised an eyebrow.

"Not until they get here, Val," Caleea giggled, gesturing around the empty room. "Perran says they've been called in and'll be here in a minute."

"Fine then, you got any idea how you're going to teach them?" Val pulled out a chair and sat down, feet on the desk casually as if it was his own. In a way it was, temporarily.

"What do you mean _I_?" Perran apparently heard the laughter leave her voice and wisely exited the room. "It's our first class. _We're_ posted here together and that means _we're_ teaching together," Caleea said in a voice that brooked no argument.

Val rolled his eyes at her, arguing anyway. "No, correction: _You _wanted to teach them _now._ I was all up for settling in first. I've had no time to prepare. Therefore _you're _teaching them."

"I don't care what your—" the journey_woman_'s response was cut off by the sound of children arriving.

Getting up off the chair, Val sidled off into the corner of the room, where the orange sunset cast shadows, and watched as they all filed in one at a time. There were twenty in total, ages probably ranging from about four to twelve Turns. Caleea's eyes lit up when she noticed girls in the group and Val couldn't help but smile.

They seated themselves as their teacher turned to face them. She turned around and opened her mouth to speak, but shut it after a second. Her muscles stiffened and Val immediately glanced at her eyes. Caleea always showed her emotions through those dark blue eyes. He should know, he'd spent enough time staring at them.

The one thing he noticed straight off was that that spark was gone. Her determination was gone. _Shards!_

Someone chuckled and Val immediately found the presumptuous girl in the crowd and marked her out.

Caleea opened her mouth once more to speak, but nothing happened and Val cut in, "In case the gossip hadn't reached you, we're the harpers sent from the Harper Hall to teach you."

They all turned around to look at him in shock. He chuckled a bit; apparently he hadn't lost his touch after all. "We don't yet know your abilities or your names. Therefore we're going to give a test to see how good you are, and next time around we'll have a proper assessment of your talents."

He made his slow way around the class. As he passed the girl who laughed before, Val placed a hand on her shoulder and easily removed her necklace undetected. "Included in these lessons we've been sent to give will also be instructions on how to pay attention to your surroundings. Something you all need to work on."

He stopped next to Caleea, throwing a casual arm over her shoulders. "My name is Journeyman Valth. My partner here is Journeywoman Caleea." Val looked them over once, his gaze making several of theirs falter. "That's how you're to address us. Not Val, not Cal. Journeyman Valth and Journeywoman Caleea."

He gave them the nicest smile he could manage and saw as his partner went pale next to him. Paler. "Now," he turned around and started writing on the slate at the front of the room, "answer these questions to the best of your ability and at your own pace."

As he wrote, Caleea handed out the slates he'd gestured and pushed her lightly towards. Leaving them to answer, Val moved back into his corner and leaned against the wall, watching them as they worked on the questions, their brows furrowed in concentration.

Caleea locked eyes with him as she made her way back over and mouthed, "Thanks." He shrugged in response.

As the students worked he studied each in turn. Some were writing at a furious pace while others stared blankly at the slate and kept rubbing out whatever they had written, if anything. Some wrote in a lazy manner and others were sweating and trembling slightly as they wrote.

The first person to lean back was a boy of eight. Coming up behind him, Val placed a hand on his shoulder and he jumped. The journeyman chuckled. "Done?" he asked as he looked over the boy's shoulder at the answers.

He nodded. "Yes, sir."

Picking up the slate, Val looked it over. His letters weren't bad, but he needed more work on them. To be expected. His answers, though, were almost all correct.

Val gestured for Caleea to come over. She did, curled wisps of brown hair escaping the tail in back of her head and drifting in the salty breeze from the window, a slightly wry smile replacing the fear as she probably refrained from saying _something_ sarcastic about him ordering her around. "Take him next door and look at how good he is with the instruments," he whispered to her.

"What about you?"

Val glanced over at the person to the right of the eight-Turn-old and saw her only at question three. Sighing, he turned back to look at Caleea. "It's going to be awhile. I'll send them over one by one."

She nodded gratefully and, placing a smooth hand on the boy's shoulder, she steered him into the adjoining room. Sighing again, Val moved back to his corner and closed his eyes.

Today was going to be a long day. Probably one of many.

* * *

"Go on," Caleea said affectionately, giving Ressi a little shove and the girl smiled back before scampering off to do her chores before supper, which itself was less than an hour away.

The ten-Turn-old girl loved the gitar, Caleea's favourite instrument, and already knew a few of the basic Teaching Ballads. Most of the others hadn't ever even held one, or any of the other instruments really. That was fine, though, because she and Val were here to teach them the words, not the instrumentals. Unless they were already proficient.

Caleea peered out into the main teaching room and saw Val picking up the only slate left. The last child, a fair-haired, fair-skinned boy of about nine Turns, came in wide-eyed.

"Hi!" Caleea greeted the boy.

"Journeywoman Caleea," he said respectfully, sitting down where she indicated. "I'm Meigon."

As the harper girl showed the boy the instruments—he'd never held them but was excited to finally see them up close—she saw Val leaning against the doorframe out of the corner of her eye, watching. For the first time it made her kind of uncomfortable.

She handed Meigon a pipe and smiled as he eagerly blew through it, producing a noise that wasn't much of anything but a rough squawk. He tried again with less success. But he was having fun at least.

Val had stepped in so suddenly and seriously. Gone was the reckless, untroubled thief. Well, he had snagged that girl's necklace. Caleea'd have to set that right before anyone noticed. But aside from that, he was suddenly in teacher-mode. The moment she freaked out he'd—

Saved her.

The thought caught her unaware and she had to focus on showing Meigon the proper way to hold a drum to stop herself from gasping. _Why?_ Why hadn't he just left her to flounder until she finally found her voice? He could have teased her endlessly later. She would have eventually gotten over it.

"If you hold it between your legs like so," Caleea demonstrated with the drum's twin, "you can use both hands." She tapped out a quick beat—which meant, in the little drum code she knew, "harper reports"—and Meigon imitated her perfectly, grinning at his success.

"That's great," Caleea returned the amazed grin. "Do you know any dancing beats?" Meigon shook his head and Caleea smiled, "That's ok."

Val was still staring. It was really starting to get to her.

"Ok," Caleea told the boy kindly, "it's almost time for supper. I'm glad you like the instruments."

"Can I hold them again sometime?" he ventured.

"Of course." Caleea smiled and shooed him out of the room.

Carefully she stood and placed the instruments back in their places on the neat wooden shelves; hung the gitar carefully on its hook, wishing she had her own; pulled her hair back into a knot; and replaced the chairs around the small table before turning to Val.

She was sure her questions, confusion, and incredulity showed on her face but Val showed no sign of noticing, leaning in the doorway, looking just like he always had with black hair framing innocent sea green eyes.

"If you can't perform either I'm going to have to ask the Masters what they were thinking, making you Journeyman. I'm not bailing you out again.," Val teased.

"Of course I can perform," Caleea answered mock-indignantly, lifting her chin. How could she tell him performing was no problem? It had just been that sea of faces, expecting _her_ to teach them such important songs and lessons of Pern after such a short time at the Harper Hall. She'd get used to it, she figured. The first time was just so unexpected. Apparently Menolly and Sebell knew what they were doing, posting the two together.

Any response her journeyman friend might have made was cut short by another voice. "Supper is about to start, and then the entertainment. I'll show you the way to the dining hall, harpers." With a polite smile, Perran gestured to both journeymen and they followed him.

Along the way he made light conversation with Caleea, but she barely noticed. Even when he started talking about how beautiful her Minia was, and how his bronze Wes got along with her so well. Not to mention she did _not_ have the time or room in her confused thoughts to think about the fact that Minia was nearly a Turn old . . . and everything _that _implied.

The opening to the dining hall was just up ahead and Perran turned, courteously offering Caleea his arm. Inwardly she sighed. On a normal day, Caleea would have latched herself onto Val and ignored his overdramatic eye-roll of annoyance as she dragged him across the dining hall. But after the _situation_ at the main Hold of Nerat, she'd firmly asserted that he was _just_ her travelling partner.

_Shards._

So she smiled back politely and took Perran's arm, saying something about freshening up in case he'd let her go.

"You don't need to freshen up; you look fetching with your hair like this," he said. Caleea giggled at the compliment. Perran picked a table and gestured for her to sit first. As the food was served she lost track of Val.

Perhaps she could talk to him later about what happened in the teaching room. They had separate rooms, but they were still in the same section. If she'd snuck into his room after dark a hundred times at the Harper Hall then sneaking around even once here should be no problem.

A simple stew was all supper consisted of, but after such an afternoon and such a day of walking beforehand, it was extremely welcome.

"Wine?" Perran asked her with a grin.

"Of course," Caleea answered, not paying attention. She just hoped supper would be over soon so she could talk to Val. After they performed, of course. He'd been so un-Val, the way he ordered the kids about. It might not have seemed like he paid attention in classes, and she knew it was just an act to some extent, but apparently he paid more attention than anyone else. She knew he played well, but . . . they may have made a mistake making her a journeyman, but definitely not Val.

The holder next to her reached over her plate to fill her glass with something, taking the opportunity to lean in. His lips grazed her ear and she stiffened, getting the sudden urge to slap him.

"Such a shame you're leaving within the sevenday," he whispered. "But perhaps you'll be back before the Turn is out?" Perran's tone was hopeful, but Caleea wasn't sure why. She just wanted to punch his face in. How dare he think he could talk to her like that?

She shouldn't make a scene at supper, though, just before her and Val performed. So she took a gulp of her drink to forestall any kind of answer. _Wine?! I hate wine. Awful stuff. _But she finished the glass to be polite, hoping another sip would make the room stop spinning.

Perran graciously refilled her wine glass, red liquid splashing up to the rim. It wasn't so bad after all, on second thought, Caleea realized. She could drink this stuff all night. But as she finished her second glass, she decided she wouldn't sit around too long drinking wine.

She still needed to talk to Val about . . . something.


	5. Chapter 5

**_Ok, ok, let's start this chapter out with an apology! I'm so sorry I didn't update last night...I've been sick, and while that's not really a good excuse because practically everyone's sick this time of year, it really is hard to remember you've got a chapter to update when you can barely remember your own name...yeah. So it's lucky that I actually even remembered it today! So here it is._**

**_Thanks once again for awesome reviews and criticism and praise and comments. :) We didn't get a chance to discuss and edit since last chapter, so Val's part here will still be same quality as before...hopefully by next week they'll get better, though... ;)_**

**_So, enjoy! Now I must get back to Doctor Who..._**

**_[insert disclaimer here_**

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Chapter 5: 

Val watched as Caleea took yet another sip of her wine and shook his head sadly. What had gotten into her? She was acting like one of those wherry-headed, flirty holder girls that used to bombard him at every gather. Was Minia close to rising? That boy—Perran—he had a fire-lizard, didn't he?

He sighed and rubbed his temple. It was in situations like these that he wished he had a fire-lizard of his own. The hassle of finding one, feeding it in the middle of the night, and training it would be worth it in the end. He didn't used to think so, back before his harpering days. Even back before Caleea showed up.

He scanned the room slowly, noting the high-quality, wooden raised platform at the front where the two journeymen would be performing; the high ceiling; the scattered tables. There was a hearth in the corner where half a dozen fire-lizards were perched. The hearth threw shadows, making it difficult to distinguish between them, but he saw Minia. She was there alright.

He could distinguish her from any green. The way she stood, the way she held her head, the way she looked down on the blues and looked the golds in the eye. Minia was a majestic little thing and snuggling far too close to that randy bronze.

"Would you like some wine, Harper?" asked a silky voice from Val's side.

He looked over at the speaker. She wasn't the most beautiful woman in the hold, but she wasn't bad-looking either; light brown hair, dimples in her cheeks, an innocent expression on her face but a dangerous glint in her eyes. Val simply raised an eyebrow at her and titled his head to the side, regarding her.

After a while she faltered and looked away. When she glanced back up and saw Val still looking at her she turned away and started talking to the person next to him.

Returning his gaze to Caleea and the holder, Val watched as they chatted and the harper girl giggled. Pouring another glass, Caleea raised it to her lips and sipped at it, swaying slightly in her chair.

_Shards!! How many glasses __did she have to drink tonight?_

If she continued she wouldn't be able to play. Sighing, Val stood up and made his way over to the Holder. Just as he finished his discussion, Val tapped him lightly on the shoulder and he turned.

"Ah, Journeyman Valth. What songs may we expect tonight?"

"Call me Valth," the harper told him, easing into the chair he gestured at.

Holder Jeeran chuckled. "My son was telling me before of that little _talk _you had with the class." He poured a glass and offered it.

Waving it away, Val said, "No disrespect, but I'll be performing later tonight and I'd rather have my wits with me. On that subject, I would humbly ask if it would be permissible for me to perform alone tonight. My partner Caleea . . . is going to be indisposed tonight."

Val gestured in her direction and saw her hiccup slightly, swaying even more than before.

At the Holder's frown, he added quickly, "She means no disrespect. It's just that she's only recently made journeyman and as apprentices we're not allowed to drink wine. She's unused to its affects."

"But it's not even a Benden wine!"

"But it's still better than anything any mere apprentice ever drinks," Val said. _Not to mention she's never drunk _anything _before_.

Jeeran looked back and nodded.

Val sighed quietly. Another disaster adverted. "If you'd like, I'll start playing now and perhaps you could have a discreet person escort her out? Preferably, one who wouldn't . . . take advantage of her condition?"

The Holder Jeeran looked over at the journeywoman again, and the holder boy's arm was conveniently around her waist as he whispered in her ear yet again. No chance of him escorting Caleea. Before the Holder could respond to Val, the journeyman had made his way through the tables to the stage. As he ascended the stairs, the hall settled until all attention was directly on him.

_Caleea definitely owes me for this._

"Val's going to kill me," was the first thing Caleea mumbled when she woke up, jostling Minia in the process. The little green leapt into the air, chittering. Oh . . . the noise! She clutched her head, trying to block out the little green, or get her to go away.

She'd been an idiot last night, inadvertently drunk or not. Ready to cry, Caleea sunk back onto her pillow, throwing the fur back over her head to avoid the painful onslaught of sunlight streaming through a crack in the shutter. Minia burrowed in beside her, crooning and stroking her head against her owner's face.

Caleea giggled a bit, lightly caressing her darling's eye ridges. If nothing else, Minia could always make her feel better. But she _couldn't _make her forget last night.

The trouble with being a trained harper was the fact that finely honed observation skills and attention to detail and enhanced memory _never stopped_. Not even, apparently, when she was drunk. Shards! She'd been _drunk!_

Val was going to kill her. _If I don't beat him to it, _Caleea mused.

At least she hadn't done anything entirely out of line. She hadn't spoken loudly, or acted rashly. Somehow she managed to suppress the desire to punch Perran out, in spite of the suggestive things he said. She hadn't really caused a scene or said anything improper for a harper . . . she hoped. It _was_ kind of fuzzy. Mostly the details of what people actually said. And what she said back.

But she _had_ giggled and flirted and acted completely unlike herself. And worse, she'd made Val perform solo. _Just_ after he'd practically taught the class single-handedly and she'd promised him she _would_ perform.

_Shards! He's not going to kill me. He's going to leave. _Minia crooned sadly in her ear as she thought that. _He's going to request a new assignment and get posted in High Reaches or something and leave me here to fend for myself. Or maybe he'll just leave._

"Journeywoman?" A tentative young female voice interrupted Caleea and Minia's pity-fest.

Oh, shells. They'd agreed to teach the kids in the morning today. Time to pull it together.

Val hadn't left, at least not officially, but he hadn't been seen since the class that morning. It was only a few hours until supper. And even during lessons he hadn't acknowledged Caleea's presence. It was as if she didn't exist.

Now she sat on her cot, fingering the soft wood of the pipe she couldn't bring herself to play.

Caleea had brushed Perran off in much the same manner, but at least he wasn't her best friend. A few carefully calculated sharp words and Perran left her alone, probably for good. But Val—he'd probably left her for good, too. Her best friend—did he even think of her that way anymore?—was possibly gone, unable to be found or contacted even through where he was posted because he was just _gone_. He'd just left, simple as that.

Val had done what he'd always proposed they do, but unlike the fantasies of freedom they'd shared, he hadn't taken Caleea with him.

_Did he really leave?_ Caleea wondered, staring numbly out her window at the waves. She'd rarely seen the sea before, but now it held no fascination for her. _He has more honour than that or he would have left before now, surely._ Or maybe she was just giving herself false hope. She had a penchant for that.

Still, he did have a tendency to disappear for long whiles at a time. Someplace isolated . . . like she did when she wanted to write alone. Like the Dragon Stones that hardly anyone visited because they were so difficult to reach. Secluded, unpopulated, and no one would expect a journeyman harper to hide away there.

"It's my only chance of finding him, love," Caleea whispered to the green fire-lizard draped across her shoulder. "If he's there and hasn't left entirely, then this could be my only chance to figure out how to apologize. I've been such a fardling _deadglow_ since we were posted here."

Minia started to croon her objection to that assessment but Caleea stood, determined, and put her pipe away and her boots on. She'd find Val. If he'd left, she'd have Minia figure out which direction he left in and follow him. Even if he didn't accept it, she'd find him just to apologize. And then she'd go back to wandering free. She couldn't face being a harper without him. It was only another Turn gone, another life that wasn't meant for her. She'd move on.

Without Val . . .

The thought of that shook her to the core, but she shrugged it off. Maybe when she found Val everything would be ok . . .

Ten minutes later, after shaking off three holders who wanted to be her guides—or something—she was starting to have doubts.

Thirty minutes later, legs soaked from the knee down from stumbling into a stream, Minia still making lazy circles overhead, Caleea was even less optimistic.

It took another hour to find Val. If she didn't know him so well, Caleea probably wouldn't have. He was in the darkest corner of the formation, facing the sea. He practically vanished when he sat so still. There weren't even any instruments lying around; he'd been doing nothing but sitting for who knew how long.

Mentally urging Minia to stay away, Caleea crawled closer to the shadowed journeyman. _Oh shells, shells, what if this doesn't work? _But it was too late to change her mind.

She sat and leaned against the stone wall at her back, about a foot from Val. He must have heard her coming in, but she announced her presence anyway. "Uh, hey," she said quietly.

He said nothing. He didn't even move. He just sat there, staring almost unblinkingly out at the ocean as if she didn't exist. Maybe in his world, she didn't.

"Val?" her soft voice wavered. "Val . . ."

_Shards! _What happened to her speaking skills?

"Val—Val, look, I'm . . ." Sorry? It wasn't that simple. She _was_ sorry, but . . . did it work like that? When she was sorry, thankful, confused, afraid, and uncertain all at once, what could she possibly say? "I'm sorry, I guess," she started again, whispering. It sounded so empty. "And . . . thank you." It was more of a question than a statement. Again she cursed her lost speaking skills. "And . . ." _you're my best friend and I just want you to come _back_ and start talking to me again_, she thought, actual tears clouding her vision, unsure whether she'd actually managed to say that out loud or not.

The tears started spilling down her cheeks and she sat in silence, unable to see, not sure what to do next or if Val was even still there.

Caleea felt a hand on her shoulder, and then arms were around her. It took her a second to realize what was happening; it was the first time Val had ever actually hugged her. Shaking, trying not to start sobbing, Caleea collapsed into the firm embrace.

"You probably hate me now," she said in a choked voice, the words coming easier now that she was listing her faults. "I know I do." Val didn't say anything. He was just going to let her talk. So for once she just shut up and let him hold her. She sniffed in the silence, pressing her cheek harder into his blue tunic, hands clutching at the front of his wherhide jacket.

"But . . ." her voice came out as a hoarse whisper, "just don't leave me."

Val still didn't say anything, but Caleea could sense the change in the air as the two harpers stayed that way, unwilling to break the embrace, for several minutes more. The harsh waves broke against the rocks, echoes of wind whistling through the various caves increasing in volume. It was so peaceful Caleea just wanted to stay there forever.

But Minia would have none of it. She fluttered down, tottering into the opening to their little cave, crooning and scolding. Her owner giggled, rubbing tearstains out with the collar of her jacket as she reluctantly pulling away from her source of warmth, and looked up at her smirking friend.

"I think Minia wants us to head back," she said.

"Doesn't want to miss supper, eh?" Val asked. By the Egg of Faranth, his voice had never sounded better.

"I don't know, actually. She knows, as always, that she has to get her _own_ supper," Caleea emphasized. "But come on, let's get back."

Minia chirped an emphatic agreement.

The journeywoman smiled softly, reaching her hand to Val. On a normal day she would have dragged him with her, but this time she was softer. Something had changed.

"I promise I'll perform with you tonight."


	6. Chapter 6

**_Ok, this is entirely in Val's POV. So written entirely by XIII Dragon. And after this chapter you may either like Val more or think he's a jerk. Either way, I can't find the slightly better version of the chapter, so you probably won't get to know him and his past any more. I'll probably go back and switch out the bad chap for the slightly better chap someday but for now I just didn't want to miss posting tonight. So here's the chap. Hope you like it. Thanks for reviewing. We like criticism and praise. Gotta run._**

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Chapter 6: 

"Val—Val, look, I'm . . . I'm sorry I guess."

_Sorry? Sorry?_ That's all she had to say? That she was sorry? Didn't she know that sometimes sorry's not enough? After everything Val had done for her and she was "sorry."

Part of him wanted to yell at Caleea; another to stay silent. She'd earned her punishment after all.

"And . . . thank you. And . . ."

Val glanced over at her. _And what?_ He tried to read her expression but she was gazing out to sea. Her hair was in the way, obscuring his sight of her face, and eyes. He wondered if she saw him watching; if she knew he saw the tears leaking down her face.

_Shards!! She'__s crying._ What was Val supposed to do in a situation like this? It's not like he'd ever comforted people before. He had a reputation to uphold after all.

And as those tears leaked down her face and landed on the ground, Val let his heart get the better of him. After all, if he didn't comfort her he'd be left alone to fend for himself when the hold figured out it was him behind all the thefts.

Placing a hand on Caleea's shoulder, he pulled her around and into a hug. She started shaking, sobbing slightly into him. Great, another shirt ruined. Holding her tightly, he smoothed her hair and just let her cry. She was blabbering on about something, but he ignored it. Probably some self-moping or something.

Eventually she stopped talking and just let her partner hold her. Val pulled her in closer to him and felt her press back, clinging to him as if she thought he was about to vanish. He'd imagined giving her his first hug to be far different from this.

Eventually she spoke again, voice hoarse, "I think Minia wants us to head back." The little green was crouched nearby, gazing at the pair with her head tilted to the side, eyes whirling slightly faster than normal.

Val rolled his eyes and gave voice to his thoughts. "Doesn't want to miss supper, eh?"

"I don't know, actually. She knows, as always, that she has to get her _own_ supper," Caleea stated sourly. "But come on, let's get back." She looked up and Val gazed back into her eyes. "I promise I'll perform with you tonight." As she said this, he felt her hand slip into his. _I wonder if she knew what that little gesture did to me._

Caleea half walked, half skipped across the sand, dragging Val behind her. Giggling all the while.

He would probably never be able to understand Caleea. Crying one moment and happy once more the next. Minia was probably close to rising.

At the thought, he cursed under his breath. That meant all the holder boys with a fire-lizard would be vying after her. _Shells! I should have stolen that egg when I had the chance._

The possible thefts with a fire-lizard lookout were endless. Plus, it would've kept away those pesky holder kids. He couldn't do anything illegal with people around all the time. Except probably pickpocketing, but tidbits like that didn't sell for much.

Out of the corner of his eye, Val noticed something flying and swooping off in the distance. Turning his head, he saw a whole fair of fire-lizards pouncing and diving near an outcrop of rock a ways out to sea.

"Hm, fire-lizards," he remarked and continued walking. It was too late for him to get a fire-lizard now, probably, although the future benefit would be nice . . .

"Fire-lizards? Where?" Caleea asked eagerly. She never tired of watching them, did she?

"There," he pointed in the general direction of the outcropping.

"Val!" she sounded shocked. "Look! They're all clustered around the rock out there. No, Minia, come back!" She reached a hand out.

"I thought she wanted supper." Val grabbed her arm. "Come on, let's get back. I'm starting to get hungry myself. She can pop_ between_ to us later."

But Caleea pulled away, putting her hand to her head in concentration. "Minia's helping them. I think they're fighting off something from . . . from their clutch! Val we have to get out there!"

Val rubbed his temple. Shells, first she freezes in front of the class; then she gets drunk, forcing him to perform solo; and then she starts crying. And now this. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to will his head to stop pounding.

"C'mon, Val, we need to get out there, _now!_" She sounded unusually frantic. "They're not just fighting something off; they're keeping something away from _a clutch!_"

"But we don't have a boat," he pointed out. "How are we meant to get there?"

"Ginnel has a boat; he'll take us out there," she started dragging Val back in the direction of the hold. "Meigon says he's always trying to get out of chores and sail. If it was official Harper business, he'd come without question."

"Ginnel? Who's that? Name sounds familiar. . ."

"Blonde, twelve Turns old, taught himself to play the flute and does amazingly well . . .?" She sounded a bit annoyed.

Val blinked in surprise. "Then why wasn't he in class?"

The harper girl winced. "He already knows most of the Teaching Ballads really well, and he just looked so bored and he's so happy when he's with his little skiff . . . So I kind of let him out this morning."

Val rolled his eyes though she couldn't see. "Then you could have taken him aside and taught him extension work and sent Minia off with a note saying that he's a good candidate for the Harper Hall."

She turned her head and gave him a calculating look. "Oh, I did send Minia back with a note. But I wouldn't be complaining if I was you. Do you remember how many times you skipped classes? For less innocent reasons than sailing, too, I might add."

"A grand total of 525 classes. I was trying to be the first one to reach four digits, but then you appeared."

Caleea rolled her eyes at his offhand remark. As she turned her head back forward they lit up.

"Ginnel!" she called to a boy not too far ahead. "Ginnel, we need a boat. Think you can help?"

" 'M sorry Journeyman Valth, Journeywoman Caleea, but I can' go anywhere tonight. No one's 'lowed to. Someone been stealin' from the Hold and so no one's 'lowed to leave. . ." he trailed off.

"Okay," Val replied swiftly. "In that case, it looks like we'll just be staying here tonight then. No need to go after the clutch."

With that he grabbed Caleea and steered her away towards the Hold. She somehow managed to slip out of his grip, spin, and smack him on the head. Wincing, he rubbed the back of his head and was about to reply with some sort of witty remark like always when he noticed she was looking at the ground.

_Shards, don't let__ her start crying now. Anything but that._

She turned quickly, not looking him in the eye, and spoke to the kid again. "Ginnel, it's ok. You can take us because it's urgent; there's a clutch of fire-lizard eggs in trouble. We've got to get out there." Apparently her cajoling tone worked. Ginnel's eyes widened until they were about double.

Almost before Caleea had stopped and without a backward glance to make sure the journeymen were following, he raced off towards the boats. By the time the two caught up with him, he had the skiff in the water, standing on board. Well, in actuality he was jumping up and down, bouncing everywhere.

The harpers climbed in as fast as possible and he started out of the bay. A couple people ran out yelling something, probably demanding what the three were doing, but they simply yelled back, "Harper business!"

"So where we goin'?" asked Ginnel above the wind.

"There!" Val yelled back, pointing toward the outcrop where the fire-lizards had finally driven off their attacker—probably a wherry. The boy nodded in response and guided the skiff to it.

The wind started picking up and Val wrapped his wherhide jacket around him tighter. Looking over, he saw Caleea staring eagerly at the outcropping ahead. She was also shivering in the weather.

Sighing, he took off the jacket and passed it over to her. She glanced at him and opened her mouth, but he cut her off. "Take it; it's not cold and I'm used to it."

As she took it, eyes full of confusion, Val swiped her bracelet.

"Thanks, Val," she ventured.

"Don't thank me yet." The journeyman held up the bracelet for her to see. "I think this belongs to you."

"What, holding that to ensure the safe return of your jacket?" she asked sourly, apparently not surprised at its disappearance. Val just chuckled.

"We're here!" yelled Ginnel excitedly. "But the weather don't look like it'll get better an'time soon."

As Caleea and Val stood out of the boat it started raining. Ginnel looked like he wanted to protest being the one left behind, but when the journeywoman gave him a quick smile he stopped and sat down to wait more patiently.

Brushing his hair out of his eyes irritably, Val followed Caleea across the rough surface separating them from what was apparently the hatching clutch. She slipped and he caught her easily. She looked up at him, raising an eyebrow slightly, and as he smiled back she flushed and looked down. That was a first.

Slowly, they made it the rest of the way across the slippery rocks until they came to the clutch. Glancing around, Val could already see the water lapping at the bottom of the eggs. No fire-lizards were seen except Minia who was bravely trying to move the eggs alone.

"The other fire-lizards gave up!" he yelled.

Caleea nodded, eyes wide, and picked one up. "We'll both . . . That's the . . . we can do!"

Val simply nodded in reply, unable to hear her over the wind but figuring what she meant. He picked one of the warm, hard eggs up himself. Turning around, he held it carefully against his chest and searched for the skiff but through the rain it was impossible to distinguish anything further than a couple steps.

Caleea must have seen something, though, for she grabbed his hand and then pointed off into the distance. She must have put the egg she'd grabbed in a padded pocket in the jacket of Val's she was still wearing. Squinting, he managed to make out a rough outline of the skiff.

As they made their slow way back a wave crashed down on them, pushing the two close to the rock's edge, Caleea dangerously close to falling off into the sea completely. Dragging her back up onto her feet, Val threw her arms around his neck and helped her limp toward the boat.

Trudging step after step, he was only aware that he was hurt when Caleea yelled something in his ear and pointed at his bleeding leg and arm. He was so cold; he was numb. He didn't even feel the injuries at all.

At last they stumbled into the little boat and Ginnel started pulling away. The boat rocked and swayed as the waves pounded away at it, battering against the rocks. How long would the skiff hold together?

Clutching Caleea as close to him as possible, for warmth, Val sat in a silence as they watched Ginnel battle the waves, unable to help. Slowly, the rocks got farther away as the boat moved out into open sea.

Then water started seeping. Leaping forward and grabbing a bucket, Val threw it to Caleea and picked up a second.

No matter how fast they bailed, there always seemed to be more water.

Val felt like he was _between_; no sensations at all and no sounds except his breathing. Just nothing.

He was finally jerked back when he stumbled and fell, his head under water for a second. He jerked up, took a deep breath, and looked around. Waves. That's all he could see. Waves. Very, very big waves. Coming straight at them.

Val looked around and saw Caleea beside him bailing out as fast as possible. He placed a hand on her shoulder and shook her. She glanced up with glazed over eyes. Val pointed at the wave that was coming and her eyes widened as they focused.

No one had time to react. They didn't have time to do anything. The wave crashed down on them and the next thing Val knew he was in the water, fighting against the current. Amazingly, Caleea was still next to him. Reaching out with one hand, he managed to grab onto a piece of floating wood and clutched it as tight as possible while with the other he pulled Caleea toward him.

Ginnel was nowhere to be seen. He was a seaholder's child; maybe he knew what do to better than harpers . . . or maybe he'd just drowned.

The edges of Val's vision were starting to go blurry. He bit down on the inside of his cheek and drew blood. He glanced around once more, searching for Ginnel. He was ready to give up. He was ready to fall asleep.

Then he was aware of Caleea straining against him, trying to break free of his grasp. _Shards!! What the . . ._

There was something small bobbing up and down. Calling to her to stop struggling, Val started kicking, guiding the two towards it. As the pair neared, it suddenly disappeared from sight and a wave crashed onto them. Resurfacing, Val saw that what Caleea had been desperate to get to was, in fact, a fire-lizard egg. Hers was in a pocket—it must have been the one Val had grabbed.

The harper girl picked it up gently in both hands, treading stormy water, Val's arm still around her waist, and placed it down the front of her clothes in an attempt to keep it warm. Val wanted to yell at her, scream at her. They risked their lives to get to this clutch. They were going to die for this clutch, and Ginnel probably already had.

Val probably would have yelled at her if she could have heard him. And if he wasn't so tired. But he just couldn't keep his eyes open anymore. Sleep. That's what he needed. Sleep. Even cold, numb, wet sleep.

He thought Caleea was nudging him again. Or she was yelling in his ear. Later, he thought he remembered her even biting him once to try to keep him awake. Though that might have been Minia.

The last thought that ran through Val's mind before it all went dark was, _We're never going to survive this._


	7. Chapter 7

**_Don't kill me! Please! I'm sososososososo sorry I forgot to update yesterday. I could try blaming it on lack of sleep. But in the end I know that's a lame excuse...lol. Of course, I can't take all the blame, it's not like XIII Dragon _reminded _me or anything..._**

**_Anyway, this chapter may very well suck because I've spent all week working on my own lame original story and did zero editing...so if it sucks, well, sorry. Review and tell me just how much! ;)_**

**_Hope you enjoy it, though. I don't remember what POV it's in...maybe Caleea's. Yeah, that's it._**

**_Remember, no editing. So if she seems melodramatic or goes against suggestions that have been said in reviews, it's because I didn't edit it yet. I'll get to that eventually...just be glad I actually remembered instead of forgetting again tonight..._**

**_Oh, and, I quote, "Reviews would be nice. Criticisms would be better." ...and praise would be too unattainable a goal at this point, I'm thinking. ;)_**

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Chapter 7: 

The storm had all but cleared up, leaving nothing but a vast expanse of grayish-blue on every side. The sky was still gray but it had at least stopped raining. It was, in its own way, beautiful.

The only problem was, Caleea figured, the fact that she and Val were stranded out here, floating on a piece of a boat in the middle of nowhere with rescue highly unlikely. And Val—he looked pretty bad.

Caleea hadn't been hurt much, double-padded in Val's jacket and with Val himself holding onto her. She only had a few scratches, here and there, as far as she could tell, not counting her wrist . . . but he was freezing cold still, on top of being wet, and his leg looked pretty messed up from when they'd fallen on the rocks.

There was only so much she could do for him. She'd moved the eggs she'd saved into her tunic against her skin to keep warm, tightening the belt to ensure that they didn't fall out, and taken off both jackets, tucking them in around the unconscious journeyman. She took out what bandages she had in her pack—wet though they were—and wrapped his leg.

She had to be careful, though, with her right wrist she found out. It must be sprained.

After that all she could do was try to stay awake and _hope_, sitting with Val's head in her lap, Minia curled on her shoulder.

Minia . . . she couldn't even send the little green for help. The moment the storm had died down, Caleea had dragged Val onto the plank of wood and started tending to him. When Minia fluttered down, Caleea had instantly sent her to Meigon, young though he was, to find out about Ginnel. The boy was fine, but neither little Meigon nor Caleea had thought to inform anyone of importance of the harpers' whereabouts. If she hadn't been so sleepy and a bit cold herself, she thought she would have had the wits to send a clearer message.

And now Minia refused to go anywhere else. With the trouble she'd had getting back to Caleea the first time, the poor little thing was scared to death of leaving again. And Caleea couldn't blame her. Not to mention she wanted the company of her little green darling.

_Sleepy fire-lizards_, she thought to herself, _do _not_ help to keep one awake._

Try though she might, Caleea could barely keep her eyes open. The gentle rolling of the waves, the sleepy gray feeling the clouds cast on the whole situation . . . she kept finding herself nodding, and jerked back awake only to repeat the cycle a moment later. Not to mention she was cold. But Val needed the jackets more, with as much blood as he'd lost.

So when she saw the group of giant, adorable fish leaping and diving toward her, she almost yelled in relief. She'd never seen them before but she knew what they were: dolphins.

In a moment they surrounded the bit of wood the two harpers occupied.

"Need help?" one asked in a high-pitched squeal.

It was so high-pitched, so surreal to hear _fish_ talking, no matter what stories she'd heard, that Caleea giggled. But she was pretty sure this _was_ real. Either way, she was too tired to care.

"Yes, please," she slurred. "Could you take me and my partner—"

"What's your name?" another of them suddenly asked.

"Name, name!" a third squealed.

"I'm Caleea and this is Val," Caleea answered them. "And we both need to get to shore. Do you think you can help us?"

"We can help!"

"Take Cally and Vally to the Dolphin Hall?" the first one asked—well, it was possibly the first one. They all looked kind of the same to Caleea. This one had darker skin, though.

"No, no people right now," she answered, not wanting to deal with anything except sleep.

"To the shore!"

"Hold on, hold on!"

All five of them started leaping into the air, and suddenly Caleea remembered what she was supposed to do. "Hold onto you?" she clarified.

"Hold on!"

So, she reached out, waking up Minia, who shrieked and darted into the air, hovering a ways up. Caleea didn't have time to deal with her at the moment. She just reached out and grabbed one of the fins in her left hand. An instant later she was pulled off the plank, being towed back through the chilly water, drenched once again as the dolphins circled Val.

"Go, go," one said and then Caleea was off, speeding away through the water. _But . . . Val_.

A second later she saw him being somehow carried between two dolphins. Most of the ride to the shore—which seemed to take hours—was extremely fuzzy. She was pretty sure she dozed in and out, water rushing around her, Minia keeping pace with them overhead, the eggs carefully tucked against her skin where they'd be the warmest and driest they could be.

By the time they got to shore Caleea barely had the strength to pull herself and Val up the sunny stretch of beach, thank the dolphins, and collapse next to her partner on the warm sand. But . . . the eggs . . . she dragged herself back to her feet and crawled a ways away from Val, so neither of them would step on the clutch if they woke up.

Minia landed and helped her dig into the nearly-burning sand, arrange the eggs carefully in the hole, and then pile the sand back on top. From the way Minia curled herself protectively about the mound, Caleea figured nothing was going to get to those eggs unless they went through her first. She smiled at the antics of her little fire-lizard. Apparently the green had picked up on how important those eggs were to her owner.

Finally, Caleea dragged herself back to Val and collapsed. _I'm not getting up again. Thread could fall unchecked and I wouldn't even care._

Sprawled on the warm sand, next to her partner, alive and safe, the hot sun warming her up from the outside in, Caleea fell fast asleep.

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Hours later, she finally woke and stretched, savoring the warmth. She didn't particularly want to get up and face the day, but she wasn't sure why. Minia's anxious chirp brought everything back. The harper's eyes snapped open, met nothing but darkness.

Val had been cold when they'd gotten here, not to mention he'd probably lost a fair amount of blood. Heart racing, she sat up and groped in the darkness until she felt Val, definitely still breathing, next to her on the warm sand. Sighing in relief, she looked around, eyes adjusting to the darkness.

Minia's glowing eyes, whirling in bluish facets, tinged only slightly red, met hers from across their curve of beach. She was still guarding the eggs; so unlike a green but so like Minia.

Caleea let out a breath and hugged her knees, resting her chin on them. Minia was going to rise. It was a fact she couldn't avoid though she'd tried. And she was almost a Turn old, now. Fire-lizards usually rose between one and two Turns, she'd heard, depending on their owner.

Apparently it didn't matter who your partner was, with fire-lizards involved, but Caleea knew it would matter to her. And no matter _what_, she was _not_ going to have any annoying, rough holder boy's fire-lizard catch Minia.

So, Val would impress one and she'd keep Minia for rising for at least half a Turn. Even if she had to trick Val into it.

The waves breaking softly against the shore were the only noises in the still night. Caleea peered at the sky; it was nearly dawn, so east was to her right. That either meant they were out on a strange peninsula somewhere or, probably more likely at this point, they were in Southern.

_Shards! _She'd need her maps. So she stood up and dragged herself over to her pack—Val didn't have his, which was going to make this difficult for the first couple days—and spread out the jackets. With delicate fingers she unrolled the sheets onto the sand. They should dry in a few hours, especially once the sun came up. If they were legible once dry would be a different matter.

The sun was practically up; there was plenty of light now for a clear picture of the layout of the beach.

"Minia," Caleea hissed, even though she didn't really need to say it out loud. Her fire-lizard reluctantly left the clutch. "Come on, darling," she soothed the green as she landed on her arm, "they'll be fine for a moment. I need you to fly up high and show me what our beach looks like."

_I've looked at the maps enough. I might be able to figure out where we are without them,_ she hoped.

Minia cheeped an acknowledgement and an instant later vanished _between_. Caleea closed her eyes and suddenly an image of a coastline curve came into view. It slowly got brighter, the colors clearer. _Definitely Southern._ Caleea memorized the visual and called Minia back to her. Instead the fire-lizard appeared back over the tiny clutch, down the beach, and settled on top of it.

Caleea giggled but let her stay, guarding the eggs. As the sunrise became more visible, she smiled. It was beautiful, yellows and oranges, tinged slightly pink. The sky opposite was turning a brighter blue than she'd seen in a long time.

Then she looked around her, awestruck. Maybe it was the feeling of freshness that always accompanied mornings, but she was almost _glad_ this had happened to her and Val. They were in Southern in all its beautiful, tropical glory. She never actually thought she'd see it. Past wrongs almost seemed to disappear, irrelevant.

The sultry air slowly grew warmer, if possible, as Caleea was finally able to see the maps clearly. She pored over them. They were somewhere directly below Nerat, but in Southern. She didn't even bother marking nearby settlements. As soon as Val woke they could figure out where to go from here, if they wanted to stay in Southern, or if they wanted to find a way back North. She didn't care at this point.

Having nothing else to do, she made her way down to Minia, gazing at the contrasting greens, blues, and oranges of the beach, so different from the Northern beaches she'd seen. The eggs needed to be checked. She knelt by the mound and brushed the sand away.

"Ow!" she cried after jarring her right hand. "Definitely sprained."

She continued moving the sand with only her left hand. "Yes, yes," she told the little green at her questioning chirrup, "you're doing a fine job. I just want to see how hard they are."

They were actually pretty hard. _A day at most,_ Caleea thought, surprised. They were hard as rocks, just like Minia's had been. She carefully put them back, covering them with sand.

As she trudged back toward Val, she looked at the imposing wall of jungle at her right. Southern—famous for fruit. She was suddenly hungry and laughed at herself for not thinking of it sooner. A moment later she had a redfruit in hand, slowly biting into it, savoring the sweet juiciness. A girl could get used to this. It was no wonder that holders had rushed down here so quickly once it had opened up, that the harpers who came back from there seemed so eager to return.

Caleea sat a ways away from her unconscious partner, up the beach where she could watch everything. Her mind inevitably turned back to the reason they were even here. She'd gone after Val, that's why they'd even seen the clutch. She'd gone after Val because she'd been such a dimglow and he'd stepped in.

Which brought up the question _why._ She finished her redfruit and wiped her hand on her trousers. Why had he taught the class, why had he performed solo, why had he held her when she was crying? There was one explanation but it didn't make sense; not applicable to Val, anyway. _So why?_

Suddenly the journeyman in question jerked and started shaking, for apparently no reason. Eyes wide, Caleea leapt up and bolted to him, kneeling. Her shadow fell across him and she shook his shoulders, ignoring her wrist pain. "Wake up!" she hissed. "Val!"

The usually-lax young man snapped awake, sitting up so quickly he didn't seem to move. Caleea breathed out, almost smiling as she practically watched her partner scan his memories and surroundings, working out what had happened. But she didn't move, didn't say anything. What if he went all weird?

Val glanced at his leg last and looked up. "I almost died and no hug? No kiss? Nothing? Some people might think you don't care about me."

A true grin burst on the relieved girl's face. This was the Val she knew. She threw herself at him, arms around his neck.

"Shells, when I said I wanted a hug, I didn't mean I wanted one that would choke me half to death!"

Still smiling, Caleea pulled away and sat back, facing the bluest ocean on Pern. "This is Southern, obviously," she said casually, figuring Val already knew, "so if you're still hungry there's plenty of fruit back that way." She waved in the general direction of behind her.

She didn't even need to turn to know Val was rolling his eyes. "No, really, you think? I'm not blind," he said sarcastically.

Caleea heard him try to stand up and then something like a stumble. _Shards! His leg!_ When she turned around he was still sitting, a grimace of pain evident on his face.

"Val!" she exclaimed, scrambling to her feet. "Here, let me help you."

"I'm perfectly fine," he retorted, brushing her hands away.

"I don't think so," she retorted right back. "I know how bad your leg is."

"I told you, it's fine." Now he was annoyed. He tried to stand again and stumbled.

Caleea instantly caught his arm, but couldn't prevent him falling a second time. "Of course you're fine. That's why you're stumbling so healthily all over the place." She sighed. "Come on, you're probably just stiff anyway. Just let me help you up!"

"Yeah, that's it. Just stiff."

She wisely stayed silent, putting his arm around her shoulders and standing up, letting him rest his weight on her. A cheeky grin spread on Val's face and he suddenly stumbled, pulling Caleea down with him, tumbling into the sand.

They ended up in a heap, a smirking Val practically on top of her. He was such a _dimglow. _She wanted to giggle—she should have expected something like this—but her breath caught in her throat as she realized just how unusually close they were.

"Oops." said Val with an innocent expression.

"Sure, oops," Caleea said, regaining her composure and rolling her eyes as she pushed him off, grimacing in pain herself as she used her right hand. "Like you didn't do that on purpose!"

"It's not like you didn't enjoy it; if you didn't you would have hit me," he chuckled before giving her a wink and standing up with some effort.

Caleea watched him leave, keeping her expression perfectly still. "See if I help _you_ again," she muttered absently.

_What_, she thought as she made her way back up the beach where most of her belongings still were, _just happened?_

Well, at least he was his usual self again, right? She cursed under her breath. Her stupid mind, always going too fast, bringing back topics better left alone.

"Was it," she wondered aloud, "because we're officially harpers now?"

"What?" Val asked from behind her.

She jumped, spinning to face him. Cursing herself, but unable to avoid it, she asked him outright, "Why were you acting so different before we got here? I mean, first you taught the class and that's not unusual because that's your goal as a harper but the way you were acting then wasn't how you usually . . . are . . ." she trailed off, furrowing her brow. She hadn't been like she usually was either, had she?

Val just shrugged, biting into a piece of redfruit, gazing off into the distance. "Figure it out yourself."

Caleea scowled and rolled her eyes. "I'd smack you if you weren't already injured," was her parting shot.

She scooted over to her bag, picking out her pipe. It had gotten wet but hadn't dried terribly. Should still work. As she curled her legs under her and tested out the instrument, softly, she let her thoughts roam to more pleasant topics. They were dry, and safe, and she'd gotten to see real dolphins. Her journal was missing, but she didn't mind as much as she thought she would. Val was going to be ok in spite of his injuries. And her pipe worked.

They'd be setting out here shortly with a new goal in mind; a new destination; a new life. Again. She really should have expected it.

At least this time, she had company.


	8. Notice

**Firstly, my apologies. I know everyone hates it when they get the email and it turns out to be a stupid note. But, some good news (or I hope you take it as good news): we are rewriting this story. That's why there wasn't a 'regular' update this past week or so. Taking all your very much appreciated advice, we're going to make this story as much more believable as possible, less cliche and predictable, and hopefully more interesting. :)**

**At first we were just going to replace the current chapters, but I think there's a one-comment-per-chapter rule, and we wouldn't want to keep y'all from reviewing, now, would we? So, still under my account and easy to find from here, we're reposting our story. Yes, I know my account is filled with quite a lot of pointless stories, but since the new one has the same name as this one, it shouldn't (hopefully) be hard to find.**

**And, since you clicked the link in your email probably ready to read a chapter, you won't have to wait, like, a week for the first chapter to be posted. I'm off to do that now, so hopefully when y'all get this you won't be too mad, able to go read at least the first chapter of the new version. Which, actually, isn't changed _that_ much from the original. Oh well...**

**Hopefully you all don't hate us, since we _are_ trying to fix the story. Lol. Thanks to all our readers and especially our reviewers and double-especially our criticizers!**

**Sincerely, ****MRACR**

**(XIII Dragon didn't have anything to say)**


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